Don Waddell took over as the president of hockey operations and general manager of the Blue Jackets in late May of last year, and it’s fair to say that rather than make major changes to the CBJ roster, the longtime NHL executive took a wait-and-see approach.
There were some big moves – signing Sean Monahan in free agency, trading forward Patrik Laine and hiring head coach Dean Evason – but Waddell largely took a scalpel to the roster rather than a hatchet.
For one thing, he wanted to spend a year in charge to get familiar with his new players and to see what truly needed to be done. But perhaps more importantly, he looked at a roster full of young talent and believed that despite four straight seasons without playoff hockey, the Blue Jackets could grow into a much better team in 2024-25.
Waddell was correct, as the Blue Jackets improved by 13 wins and 23 points to finish just two points shy of a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Speaking at the end of a season that saw tremendous growth and a frustrating end, Waddell was asked what he thinks the upcoming offseason will be like. And he made it clear that in his mind, the base is set for what should be an exciting era of Blue Jackets hockey.
“I truly believe after what I’ve witnessed this year we have most of the pieces in that locker room,” Waddell said. “Obviously there’s going to be some changes. There’s (unrestricted free agents) and there’s some needs that we need to address, and we will do everything in our power to address those needs this summer.”
So with a bevy of cap space, the draft capital to make moves, and plenty of flexibility, what might Waddell do as he looks to turn the Blue Jackets into a playoff team in 2025-26? Let’s take a look at the roster and hear what Waddell had to say about what’s next.
Roster Breakdown
Forwards
Signed: Mathieu Olivier (through 2031), Sean Monahan (2029), Kent Johnson (2027), Kirill Marchenko (2027), Zach Aston-Reese (2026), Yegor Chinakhov (2026), Adam Fantilli (2026), Boone Jenner (2026), Cole Sillinger (2026)
Restricted free agents: Dmitri Voronkov, Mikael Pyyhtia
Unrestricted free agents: Justin Danforth, Christian Fischer, Luke Kunin, Sean Kuraly, Kevin Labanc, James van Riemsdyk
Depth players signed: Gavin Brindley (2026), Cameron Butler (2026), Luca Del Bel Belluz (2027), Jordan Dumais (2027), James Malatesta (2026), Max McCue (2027), Luca Pinelli (2027), Jack Williams (2026)
Depth free agents: Hunter McKown (RFA), Trey Fix-Wolansky (UFA), Dylan Gambrell (UFA), Joseph LaBate (UFA), Owen Sillinger (UFA)
Unsigned prospect to watch: Cayden Lindstrom
Analysis: Much of the team’s young core remains under team control for the foreseeable future, with Voronkov the biggest piece that will need a new contract after a 23-goal season. The team’s top six and even top nine are largely in place for the coming seasons, and with the Blue Jackets setting a team record with 267 goals scored, that’s a pretty good thing for Waddell.
Some of the biggest questions will center on what to do with the team’s unrestricted free agents, as Kuraly has been a dependable center over his four seasons with his hometown team, van Riemsdyk was a valuable mentor to the youngsters with plenty of game left, and Danforth is a Swiss Army Knife-type piece that coaches love. Del Bel Belluz also had a tremendous AHL season and impressed in his 15-game NHL cameo, so he may be ready for a promotion this upcoming season.
But by and large, the young core the Jackets have amassed is the envy of much of the league, and this is a position of strength for Columbus going forward.
Defensemen
Signed: Damon Severson (through 2031), Zach Werenski (2028), Jake Christiansen (2027), Denton Mateychuk (2027), Erik Gudbranson (2026)
Restricted free agent: Jordan Harris
Unrestricted free agents: Dante Fabbro, Jack Johnson, Ivan Provorov
Depth players signed: Corson Ceulemans (2026), Charlie Elick (2028), Caleb MacDonald (2027), Luca Marrelli (2027), Guillaume Richard (2027), Stanislav Svozil (2026)
Depth free agents: Ole Bjorgvik-Holm (RFA), Cole Clayton (RFA), Daemon Hunt (RFA), Samuel Knazko (RFA)
Unsigned prospect to watch: Nikolai Makarov
Analysis: The Blue Jackets finished 25th in the NHL with 3.26 goals allowed per game, one of the biggest reasons they failed to qualify for postseason play. Keeping the puck out of the net is a whole team effort, but considering this was the fifth straight season the Blue Jackets finished in the bottom eight of the NHL in team defense, Waddell didn’t shy away when asked if addressing the red line back would be a key focus this offseason.
“I would agree with that,” he said.
The GM also noted that re-signing Provorov and Fabbro would be two things he would like to do going into the offseason, as Fabbro proved to be a natural partner for Werenski after being claimed off waivers from Nashville and Provorov was a dependable piece of the blue line yet again who hasn’t missed a game in his two-year CBJ tenure.
Whether the Blue Jackets can come to terms with those two will go a long way to figuring out the offseason plan on the blue line.
Goaltenders
Signed: Elvis Merzlikins (through 2027), Jet Greaves (2026)
Restricted free agent: Daniil Tarasov
Unrestricted free agents: None
Depth players signed: Evan Gardner (2028), Nolan Lalonde (2027)
Depth free agent to be: Zach Sawchenko (UFA)
Unsigned prospect to watch: Sergei Ivanov
Analysis: Merzlikins won 26 games and posted his best goals-against average (3.18) since 2021, but consistency was the biggest issue – he had 19 starts allowing two goals or less but 12 allowing five or more.
Tarasov had similar issues, starting just 19 games with a .881 save percentage, while Greaves’ incredible five-win run to finish the campaign was another sign he has what it takes to be a full-time NHL goalie as he has a one-way deal for next season.
When asked about the goaltending situation, Waddell had this to say.
“The goaltending numbers are not as good as what we would hope they’d be,” Waddell said. “I thought that Elvis won us a lot more games than he lost us. You remember the outdoor game and some other games where he stood on his head. We know there’s a lot of talent there. We’re looking more for a consistency factor.
“Tarasov had a great run last year – I went back and looked at all the stuff going into the season. The coaches and myself believe that he was capable. He probably didn’t play as much early because Elvis was running pretty good. When he had an opportunity to play, he played some good games and other ones not so good.
“To say we’re just staying the status quo, maybe that’s the way it ends up, but we have to examine this position like all the positions and make decisions.’
How To Get Better
Free Agency
The first order of business for Waddell will be getting clarity on the team’s unrestricted free agents. As noted earlier, he mentioned Fabbro and Provorov by name when it comes to those who are about to hit the market, but Waddell said there are other players the Blue Jackets will look at bringing back.
Waddell said that discussions on free agents-to-be were put on hold late in the season, but the front office will spend the coming weeks deciding on who they’d like to bring back.
“We have time on our hands where we can really look at it,” Waddell said. “It also gives us an opportunity to study the market to say, ‘OK, if we don’t sign player X, can we replace him with player Z?’ All of that will happen over the next four to six weeks.”
When it comes to the open market, the top names currently slated to hit unrestricted free agency include forwards Mitch Marner (Toronto), Nik Ehlers (Winnipeg), John Tavares (Toronto), Sam Bennett (Florida), Brock Boeser (Vancouver) and Brock Nelson (Colorado), as well as defensemen Aaron Ekblad (Florida) and Vladislav Gavrikov (Los Angeles).
The good news for Waddell is that the Blue Jackets are awash in cap space, with more than $40 million available per PuckPedia under a cap rising to $95.5 million next season. The cap is expected to continue to rise in the following two seasons when a number of the Jackets’ top young players are due for new contracts.
Still, Waddell has said in the past that he approaches free agency with a bit of a wary eye, especially as teams around the league have diluted the pool by signing some of their big-ticket players with the cap going up.
“The cap won’t be an issue next year for us,” he told BlueJackets.com in February. “I don’t think we could spend it all. Sure, you could unwisely spend it all, but whatever you spend next year in unrestricted free agency, those contracts are multiyear, so you’re going to live with it. To sign some players in their 30s to seven- or eight-year contracts, I have a hard time with that. I think eventually you’re going to be paying the piper. We’ve seen it happen around the league.”
The Trade Market
If there’s a hallmark of Waddell’s career as a general manager, it’s that he’s not afraid to make a deal. In his six years in Carolina, he added Dougie Hamilton, Patrick Marleau, Vincent Trocheck, Brent Burns and Max Pacioretty, among others, in non-deadline trades as he tried to bolster the Canes in their push for the Stanley Cup.
Of course, it takes two to tango, but Waddell is one of the most well-respected and well-connected general managers around the league given his tenure. He won’t be afraid to make a move if he thinks it can help the Blue Jackets, and he also goes into the draft – one of the major trading times on the NHL calendar – with two first-round picks this season and nine picks in each of the next two drafts.
“We have a lot of pick assets that we can use for trades,” Waddell said. “There’s gonna be some challenges there, but I think every summer, there’s deals to be made. It’s what pieces we’re willing to give up for it. Having the draft capital is always important. We have two first-round picks this year. Our goal is to make sure we do everything that we’re capable of doing to try to make this team better.”
